Saturday Samples

Today I would like to introduce you to another creative demonstrator, Barbara. Even though she and her family attended college at my college's (GO HOPE!!) biggest rival school, it was a pleasure to meet her at Convention last summer. :) It was so great to put a face to all of her beautiful projects and listen to her stories. I am so glad to be able to share some of her projects with you today. Here's what Barbara has to say.....
Hi! My name is Barbara and I live in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. We are about 30 minutes out of NYC in a northern NJ suburb. I am the middle child in my family, having both an older and younger brother. I grew up in a Chicago suburb and have always loved art. I may have been the last one picked for sports teams, but if something had to be drawn, I was the one asked to do it. By the time I was in high school, on Sunday afternoons in the summer I would go down to the Art Institute with a friend and explore. I got to know the museum like the back of my hand. I still have a passion for visiting art museums.

By the time I headed off to college, I knew I wanted to major in Art. My dad, being the practical one in our family, told me that was a fine idea but that I should combine it with an education degree so that I could support myself! I could teach during the day and pursue my art interests as well, but at least I would have a steady income. And of course, he was right! I am still teaching and pursuing my art interests.

I went to Calvin College, a small Christian college in western Michigan and met my husband my sophomore year. Our first date was orchestrated by my friends, and it is quite an interesting story! I had been dating a tall, dark, and handsome guy who was very controlling and jealous. He got angry with me, we broke up, and he asked out another girl. We got back together and Ken asked if he should break the date he had made. (I know, I know, we were Ken and Barbie!) I told him he could keep it since she was planning on it. What was I thinking? He decided he would go! My friends thought I was crazy and decided I shouldn’t just sit by and take it, so they planned a date for me. They called around and found someone who was willing to sit in the lobby with me at 11:45, right before our midnight curfew, so my boyfriend would see me there when he brought his date back to her dorm. My husband, David, showed up at 11:45 and we pretended we were coming home from a date. Half of the people in the lobby were in on it! Ken never saw me, but David and I had such a wonderful time together, and the rest is history. We knew within a month that we had found our life’s mate.

We moved around a bit the first few years we were married. We lived in Philadelphia while David was in law school at the University of Pennsylvania. Then we spent a year in Erie, PA while he clerked for a judge on the PA Supreme Court. We then moved to northern New Jersey, where my husband grew up. He has been commuting into NYC all these years, and we’ve had a wonderful life with his family close by.

We had our four children in six years. Our oldest, Rebecca, is also a Diva, and she is the one who introduced me to stamping. She and her husband Mike, as well as her two adorable children, live in Michigan. Our son Chris and his wife Jennifer are about 30 minutes from Becky. They had their first baby, Madeline, in March, and I am so excited to be a grandma again! Our next daughter, Laura, is also in Michigan! (You would think we would have learned what would happen if we kept sending the kids to our alma mater, Calvin College.) She teaches second grade and recently got engaged! Laura and Toby will be getting married in July. Our youngest daughter, Julie, got married last June and is completing her second year of medical school. She is our east coast girl and has stayed here in New Jersey.

Quilting used to be my passion but stamping slowly took over, and now I’m afraid my sewing machine is covered with dust! I am still teaching part time, and I recently decided to take early retirement. Now maybe I will have some time to do some quilting as well as more stamping.

Well, that about wraps it up. I feel very blessed and am thankful for each new day. God is so good!

Now...to her wonderful creations!!

Hi, my name is Barbara, and I am a Dollar Spot Addict! Okay, true confessions time. How many of you can’t pass the Dollar Spot without poking around in those bins? C’mon now, hands up! I must admit I’ve got a stash of things from the Dollar Spot. I usually buy in groups of 10, since that is the maximum class size I ever have. I saw the cutest containers at the Dollar Spot a couple of weeks ago. I passed on them because I wasn’t sure what to do with them, but while poking around on some blogs last week, I saw something I had to case! I’m sorry I can’t remember where I saw it so I could give credit to the designer. Anyway, back to the Dollar Spot it was, and this is the resulting project.


The container is one of the galvanized rectangular tins. I used the crop-a-dile to punch holes in the side and then used our jumbo eyelets. (Almost all supplies are from Stampin’ Up.)

I used the Western Sky DSP with coordinating inks and ribbons, as well as the Bloomin’ Beautiful set (111490) in the Occasions mini collection. So here’s what is in the basket: a votive candle decorated with a rub-on (candles are 12 for $8 at many craft stores), a jar with a rub-on, filled with candy (these are by MM sold as a set of 6 for $10, purchased with a 50% off coupon, I might add!), a set of two glass coasters (left over wedding favors!) featuring the DSP paper, a small framed watercolor (a Dollar Spot find- threeframes for $3), and some bath salts in pretty packaging!

I think you can figure out everything but the bath salts. I got this idea from my adopted up line, Pam Joel, and think it is just the greatest idea. The bath salts are from the dollar spot at Michael’s. When you open the package, they are sealed in a small plastic bag. Now for the packaging. Take a medium confetti white envelope and seal it. Then cut it in half from top to bottom. Crimp one half of the envelope.



Stamp and color the other half. Add your bath sal
ts, tie with ribbon, and make a pretty tag. (This one was in the Designer Label Punch kit.) Put some shredded paper in the tin, add all of your gifts, and voila! The perfect gift for Mother’s Day, your sister, your daughter, your friend!

Thank you so much for sharing with us, Barbara. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Have a great weekend.
Alicia :)